Brilliant things mums give kids

April 26, 2012 DW12 Comments

There’s no pictures in this post I’m afraid, but I hope you’ll read it anyway – especially if you’re a mum.

I was tatting on the train on the way home from work tonight, thinking about things to make. My mind wondered to hair accessories – and then to a hairslide my mum made for me when I was little. What a hairslide! I loved it.

As a child I always had my hair in a bob. It was between chin and shoulder length, and quite ‘swishy’ – I’ve got very thick hair. One day my mum made me a special hairslide – I’m not sure what prompted that, now I think about it. It was platted in green and white cord across the top, stitched on to a flat metal hair slide, but with long pieces of cord that dangled into my hair, with beads on the end. Wait – I’ll draw it. Ignore the no pictures thing.

See what I mean? I can still feel it in my hair now. All dangly and brilliant. I thought it was the best thing ever. It WAS the best thing ever. It’s not the only thing my mum has ever made me of course.

She also made me dresses (when I was really little) an aran jumper (which she hated knitting, but was very well done), cakes and biscuits, a hot water bottle cover, cushions, some beautiful embroideries and lots of other things. (She also instilled the deep love of a good book).

Of course the very best thing she gave me, was her time.

We both enjoy crafty stuff, but mostly different crafty stuff. She does the most incredible embroidery, cross stitch, Hardanger and she’s really practical – so if there’s a need for a *thing* in fabric, she’ll figure a way to make it. Boxes, decorations, aprons, peg bags, iPod cases, that kind of thing. I’m not at all the same. I think I’m still working out what I like doing – tatting, for sure – and I’m liking learning to knit and use my sewing machine.

Growing up with a major part of my youth in the 80s, there was a real rejection of craft. Somehow, my family still had hobbies. I just grew up thinking that there was more to life than TV. Now I’m older, I can really appreciate what a gift that is to give to your children. I’m rarely bored – when I listen to friends who suddenly find them selves alone on a Saturday, or stuck in on a weeknight and forced to watch TV, I think how nice a spare evening to yourself sounds — a chance to *do* something! (Not to watch TV.)

So, Mum – thank you. Thank you for all the things you’ve made me, all the things I’ve made with your help, and all the things I’m thinking of making.

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And apologies – for the lack of pictorial evidence, I just felt like posting this tonight.

Monkeys, crochet, tatting, sewing, triumph and failure

April 15, 2012 DW10 Comments

Yes, this post has something for everyone. Or at least something for everyone who likes a bit of craft – otherwise, look away now.

I was of course making a pig, last time I posted. It’s still at the head stage, because the Ipad refuses to display the second page of the pattern, and I’ve not really been sitting at my other mac, which displays it perfectly. I will finish it, but over Easter as I was away visiting family, I grabbed two balls of yarn and a hook and decided I’d try out some yarn I bought for monkey making a while back.

(Look at her there – relaxing mid-photoshoot! Honestly. It was quite hard to get her to pay any attentional at all.)

The yarn was £2.00 a ball and is Rowan hand knit cotton. I must admit, I don’t love it for this kind of thing, I’ve decided. Two main reasons:
• I crochet really tightly anyway (which is actually very good for making toys) but it makes some yarns tough on the fingers – and this is one of them.
• The stitch definition is a bit too good! Its an odd negative, I know, but I think sometimes the fact it shouts ‘I’ve been crocheted!’ can really get in the way of the character of the toy. Something a little fuzzier is probably better.
While I was away, I made all the boring no-brainer bits: ears, mouth, hands, feet and I started on the rest of the head. I finished the head in the week and today I forced myself to make all the limbs and sew it together. Sewing of course, being the worst job of all.

Usually I put scarves on my monkeys, but today, with sore fingers, I couldn’t face crocheting anything else. Out of the blue I decided to make a dress instead. The monkey is actually an odd colour in real life, and just as I was about to chop up some linen, my head said ‘umm, you’re doing this in a rush, with no idea what you’re doing. Use something you don’t care about’. For once I listened and used a bit of old sheet instead. I must admit, I’ve done a dreadful job on the dress sewing! It’s appalling – and worse – the monkey is trapped inside. I had to sew her in, which is something I really don’t like (it’s sloppy, I think). Having said that – Look at her! She’s hilarious. As I sat down to sew her in, I spotted the crochet flower – it’s been knocking about on my desk for ages – I crocheted it in tatting thread a while back.

I makes a big difference I think. Without it, she looks like she’s in very drab school uniform. Having said all that, I quite like the overall effect, and so I’m going to ponder on it all and probably remake the dress, but better. I did a quick google search before hand incidentally, and found this tutorial. It’s not brilliant, but gave me enough confidence to have a go. I didn’t pin anything or measure anything… it shows. Next time.

If you wanted to crochet your own monkey, I used this pattern again, and just personalised it a bit as I went. So that’s the crochet – and the sort of triumph, on to the tatting / sewing / failure next.

Before Easter I thought I would try making a ‘lunch bag’ style bag, to put tatting on. Most of the tutorials I’ve seen have all been for bags in one colour, but I wanted side panels on mine.

Only thing is, I also lined it, and by the time I’d finished, it doesn’t really fold over properly, which is really annoying. I think it’s all too small for the thickness of the fabric.

I know it needs a button – but even with it, it’s a very clumsy looking thing – so back to the drawing board on that one.

Also, I’ve been trying out using tatting for a brooch – and I’m not keen on that either!

This is it 3/4 done – but I’m still thinking about whether to finish it or take it apart. I made the edging in the week (my own pattern, for once) – but it’s really there to hide the fact the circle isn’t perfect. So… how do people make and hem circular brooches? Actually, even as I typed that I think I probably know the answer to that one. They’re better at sewing than me 🙂

Never mind. You don’t know these things till you try ’em.

In other more exciting news – I’m learning to knit! I asked specifically for no chocolate this Easter, and so instead of an egg, my mum gave me a massive ball of practise yarn, a pair of needles and some of her time in teaching me. She’s a brilliant knitter, but doesn’t enjoy it, so it was very sweet of her to put herself through it. What a lovely present. I’ve been forcing myself to get that monkey finished all week, so I can get on with trying to knit a scarf! I’ve got the basics of knit and perl, and I can just about cast on and off (with a bit of prompting). Needless to say I have grand ambitions but like all these things, *trying* to take it one step at a time.

Phew.

Doing something (else) with my tatting

March 28, 2012 DW12 Comments

(side note – clicking any of these photos will make ’em bigger.)

Last year, when I decided I was producing a lot of tatting and it was about time to do something with it, I made some lavender bags. A complete sewing novice I thought they’d be a good place to start. Actually, they were… Tiny practice pieces, all a bit wonky, none of them with the motif actually in the middle. Luckily lavender smells lovely and if you squint a bit the wonkiness fades, so they do the job quite nicely.

After my quilting adventures, and an earlier attempt at a drawstring bag, I decided it was time to try something new with my tatting. Still all straight lines of course, but, you know – no point rushing in to curves!

I’m quite pleased with this. Made a few mistakes but learnt a bit too. I did have to unpick the sewing that holds in the drawstring about 5 times – it’s actually very tricky at that size on the machine. Next time I might do it by hand. I’ll also plan to sew on the tatting in advance rather than in the middle of everything, because I got so impatient with it!

I mentioned in my previous post that I finally sewed in the ends of a few pieces of tatting I’d had sitting about, including the Mary Konior pattern made in Valdini thread . I must admit, I really wasn’t that keen on the colours of it at all, but after blocking and sewing, I’ve changed my mind.

In the end, I just wanted to use it for something – anything really, and so I bashed out another lavender bag. I think I overstuff them usually, but this time I was a bit more sparing, and it makes it look a lot more professional! I think the linen knocks a bit of the garishness out of the colours – generally mutes it a bit. Now I’ve actually gone from not liking it much at all, to loving it!

So, all good. Room for improvement, but ok for a Sunday afternoon.

Back to the tatting chat

March 25, 2012 DW7 Comments

What with all the quilt euphoria, you might think I’ve not been tatting, but I’m still clicking along in the background. When I can get a seat on the train I always tat – it’s a bit like meditation for me. Stops me getting angry that the trains are always late, and gives me time to mull over the day ahead or just gone. Sadly, the above Storm Trooper refused to sew in the ends, and so I had to finish this off alone. The pattern is from here, and I must admit, does benefit from some beads or other embellishment. It’s a bit plain as it is. (The Storm Trooper helps.) I’m tempted to make it in green though, with red beads, as it does make a nice little holly wreath. Perhaps nearer Christmas.

While we’re talking sewing in ends, this is the pile I’ve forced myself to deal with this week. The beaded one on the right I only made a week or so ago, but the others have been lurking about for ages. In the end, I left them on the kitchen table, and forced myself to do a tiny bit of sewing when I was waiting for a kettle to boil or something to cook. Bit by bit it wasn’t too bad. As a person who crochets, I’m always reading about the chore of sewing in crochet threads – but seriously! Wait till you have to deal with size 100 tatting thread!

This is 4/5’s of a Susanne Schwenke snowflake. I love this pattern when it’s complete – while it’s a single section on repeat, theres something about it that feels a bit erratic, reminds me of sparks flying off a sparkler.To be honest there’s absolutely no way you’d see that from the above, but trust me, it’s nice. Anyway, This was the first attempt, but I wasn’t thrilled with it. It’s a tricksy pattern, and there’s the tiniest bit of bloc tatting in there, which I’ve never done before.

That’s me learning block tatting. It’s almost like you tat a chain on one side of the thread, and the next chain on the opposite side. Also, I finally learnt how to make a lock join – tatters, isn’t it hard *not* to flip the thread? Seriously, it felt like I was defying the laws of physics. All that time you spend learning to flip it correctly, and suddenly you have to unlearn it. Anyway…

This is the second attempt, and I remain unimpressed. The block tatting in it is only three passes, and in size 80 thread, it just looks like a bit of a mistake. Also, I’m thinking that the 4 rings at the end of each ‘arm’ would be much better as SCMRs. As it is, they’re standard chains, attached with a normal join, and it does look a bit messy. So I’m going to tackle it again, with a few alterations… Has anyone out there made this – and if so, any thoughts?

And finally, I’m making a bigger version of the Little Piglet! I love this pattern, the shape of the head is so cute. I hope I manage to make his body live up to it.

And that’s all for now.

Except, one last thing – look at this brilliant woven bookmark made by a friend of mine! Such a great idea, and I love the thought of a bookmark created for a specific book.

First quilt: finished!

March 10, 2012 DW22 Comments

I’ve been itching to write this post for THREE WEEKS. Three weeks ago I finished this, but I’ve only had the chance to take a few photos today.

So the thing is, this quilt is far from perfect, but I honestly couldn’t be more pleased with it. It’s a bit wonky, the stitches aren’t always straight, but I really had a lot of fun (and frustration) making it, and I learnt a lot. Also, it’s got a lot of happy memories associated with it, dating back to a beautiful weekend last August when I bought the fabric.

Anyone with the interest in reading this (if there is anyone!) will probably know how enticing bundles of fabric are in quilt shops. I finally succumbed in Quiltessential, where the owner was so helpful and encouraging that before I knew it, I’d bought myself a bundle of fabric and a rotary cutter. She seemed pretty sure I could make something, and I thought ‘you know what? You’ll never know till you try’. Up until that point all I’d made were lavender bags, I hasten to add, and I’d never heard of a ‘fat quarter’.

Anyway, I took from last September until 3 weeks ago to cut the pieces, patchwork them, buy the backing fabric, baste it, quilt it and bind it, but I’ve done it! And really, I did the whole thing by reading tutorials and watching some videos on the internet. (Thank you internet!) I should also add, that I wasn’t working on the quilt continuously, I doesn’t take *that* long!

I’ve looked at a lot of quilts online, and noticed people adding nice details to the back, so this is the back of mine – or a bit of it. It’s got a strip of patchworked offcuts and a strip of solid fabric, which runs across the shortest length. I really like it actually, and so when I make my next one, I’ll make more of an effort with it. And yes, I’m already planning my next one.

In the end I machined the front of the binding (this is my machine), and hand stitched the back, which really didn’t take as long as I thought it would. It’s not 100% easy quilting on the Singer (I still don’t have / really know what a ‘walking foot’ is) but it’s manageable. I might not win any prizes for the evenness of my stitches, but that’s not really a problem as I wasn’t planning on entering anything!

It’s the perfect size for wrapping yourself up in on the sofa – or just staring at for a bit 🙂

So here’s the thing. If you’d like to make a quilt and you’re a bit worried about it, don’t be. It’s just sewing, and if you get it wrong, you can unpick it. Unpicking might be annoying and take some time, but nobody dies. And at the end of it, you’ve got a *thing*, you’ve learnt something, and you’ve had some fun along the way. If you don’t know anyone that quilts, and you can’t get to, or afford any lessons, make the most of what you have – the internet. People are very kind with their time, and the online tutorials I’ve found have all been brilliant.

Useful links:
For inspiration, check out some of the Flickr quilting groups, it’s how I settled on a Pinwheel quilt.

If you’re beginning with biggish squares of fabric, this video shows how to make ‘fast and easy pinwheels’ (Please note, you don’t have to be fast, I certainly wasn’t!)

And if you’re using smaller squares, then the second method here is the method I used.

I used a variety of tutorials for basting and quilting – but I’m not sure that there was any specific tutorial I would recommend over any others you might find. I used the ‘stitch in the ditch’ method of quilting, as it was the best chance I had at getting straight lines!

For the binding I used this tutorial from Crazy Mom Quilts, and next time I think I might machine bind, using this tutorial from Red Pepper Quilts.

…Phew.

A sad loss for the tatting community

February 16, 2012February 16, 2012 DW1 Comment

One of the things I love about tatting is the tatting community. While I’m a bit of a lurker really, I think the community is wonderful. They’re enthusiastic and kind, encouraging and patient with beginners and always up for sharing the new techniques they’ve learned. I think everything I know about tatting has come from reading tutorials and blogs, or watching the videos produced by different members of the community.

I read tatting blogs every day, just to see what things people are making and what they’ve discovered. I pick up tips and get inspiration and a little insight into other people’s lives. One of the blogs I read was Gina’s, and so I was shocked to see in January that she’d been battling cancer, but was so pleased to hear it was in remission. Yesterday I read that she’d lost that battle on Monday.

It’s such a shock to read news like this, and such a strange situation. I read her blog, and she was kind enough to comment here – compliments, encouragement and places I could look to find out more about the things I’d been thinking about. I wasn’t lucky enough to know her in real life, but the shock is still there, along with the sadness.

Reading through everyone’s blogs last night, I thought what a wonderful place the Internet is, and how brilliant people can be. The shared kindness of strangers who grow to feel like friends. A little light has gone out in the tatting community, and Gina will be sorely missed.

Tatting & crochet update

February 12, 2012February 12, 2012 DW8 Comments

I’ve had a busy week in terms of train projects. I started the week with the above — it’s the middle part of a wreath. It’s the wreath at the bottom of this post, in fact. Once I’d finished it, it wasn’t in any way flat. It was like a 3d circle – rather than a flat ring – if that makes any sense? So I quickly blocked it before I raced in to work and hoped that it could be cured. Luckily, it could, so the Storm Trooper up there is providing not only a sense of scale, but acting as a security guard until I get a chance to do the next round. (I’m also hoping he’ll take it upon himself to sew in the ends, but I’m not holding my breath).

While the wreath-middle was blocking, I needed something else to do on the train. I’ve had this sitting about *forever*. It’s tatted in Valdini thread, and it was probably one of the first tatting threads I ever bought; it’s between size 80-100 I think. This is the Mary Konior pattern (again), but I only ever got round to tatting 3 squares, because I just wasn’t that sure about it. This thread is an odd one. I don’t like the way the colour variations work up, it’s a bit busy, and there are white patches occasionally which make it look really messy. I actually bought it because it looks like autumn leaves, and the weird thing is, it feels like them when it’s tatted up. It’s quite dull (no sheen, not boring!) and feels almost dry and papery – like leaves do.

So I forced myself to tat the last square on the train. I finished it on a Friday night on the way home from after-work drinks. I did question the idea of doing this with thin/breakable thread after several g&t’s but luckily it all worked out fine. Does need blocking though, as you can see.

And finally, there’s this. Do you ever get that thing where you have to make something IMMEDIATELY? I had that with this. I bought someone a cowl (from Accessorise) last weekend as a last minute birthday present. It was really nice, and I suddenly decided all I really need in life is a cowl. I had to have one, literally how on earth have a been living without one? HOW? I decided I should make the Calm Cowl – (a ravelry link) and I should use up the 4 balls of yarn I had left over from my mum’s scarf. Not sure how I overbought by 4, but my gain is… my gain. I have a feeling this might really need 5 balls, but I’m not concentrating on that right now…
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PS – anyone know if there’s something up with Blogger? I’ve tried to comment on a few people’s blogs and it keeps saying the captcha word is incorrect. ie – the word you type in to validate the post. no matter how many words it gives me to type, they’re always incorrect… Just wondered)

A half hearted Li’l Heart (from Birgit Phelps’ pattern)

February 5, 2012April 26, 2021 DW11 Comments

UPDATE: 20 Feb 2021 – sadly the pattern for this heart is no longer available online. / UPDATE 2: 26 April 2021 – Anke pointed out in the comments that you can still find this pattern on the Wayback Machine!

A little while ago, the lovely Katy commented on a post saying that she wished she could finish a tatted motif. I blithely commented back that she should make Birgit Phelps’ ‘Lil Heart’ because it was small and wouldn’t take long. Then I realised I’d never even made it myself!

Feeling guilty, I got on with it. Luckily, I was right – it doesn’t take long! Also, it’s really pretty – as you can see up there. As ever, I wound too much thread on to the shuttle, and when I’d finished, I wasn’t sure it was enough to make another one – so I thought I’d try something out. I halved the stitch count on everything, and made a smaller one (below):

It worked a treat! I must say, I did sit on the train congratulating myself for my sheer brilliance. I do appreciate it would be a bit more brilliant if I’d actually made up the pattern myself, but you can’t expect miracles at that time in the morning.

That’s what they look like both together. It’s size 80 thread, and so it actually makes quite a dense heart when the sizes are halved. And just to provide you with an odd photo finish, this is how big it is really:

Fits on the end of your finger. I’m not 100% sure what to do with them now, if I gave them to my other half I think he’d think I’d lost my mind. But I really enjoyed making them, and so if you’re a tatter and haven’t tried this pattern yet, give it a go.

Tatting shuttles for giants

January 22, 2012 DW14 Comments

I’ve only just developed a shuttle obsession. The internet is to blame of course, because I’ve only ever seen about 2 shops with shuttles in the UK, and usually they’re the Clover ones with a pick on the end, or the Pony ones with a hook.

On the internet there are loads. Vintage, modern, plastic, wood, Bakelite, celluloid, silver, brass. With hooks, with picks or with a gentle point.

I’ve always been intrigued by the Boye shuttle, purely because it’s metal. And actually, it looks a bit brutal. It’s not an airy fairy messing about shuttle for frivolous lace. It looks like a shuttle that means business. The only thing I’ve always wondered about was the flat hook. Looks a bit… well, dangerous, obviously, but not that practical. Looks like it would catch a bit.

Anyway. We all know where this is going – I bought one. It was listed as ‘vintage’ and came with a celluloid shuttle too. To be honest, I have no idea if either of them really are vintage, (you can still buy metal Boye shuttles brand new), but the price for two was the same as the prices I’d seen for one, so it seemed like a fair enough deal.

And here are all the types of shuttle I own. On the right is the Boye shuttle, and next to it the celluloid. Next there’s the blue Pony (like an Aero, but I have a feeling, not as good) and then there’s the good old Clover. Until now I had no idea how small the Clovers were. LOOK AT THE BOYE SHUTTLE! It’s GIGANTIC.

Usually I use the Clover as my main shuttle, and the Pony as a hook. I did try the Pony as my main shuttle for a while, but the bobbin got a bit loose and it annoyed me. Anyway.

The Boye arrived this week, and I started to use it – it was already loaded with thread, all be it rather brittle. It takes some time to get used to. I found I was holding it with my fingers further to the back, and when you pull it through a loop, you have to sort of hold it more upright than normal, to clear the hook from snagging. There were moments when I thought it was ok – having a hook attached is brilliant – and moments when it was not ok.

As expected, I didn’t love the flat hook. The rounded one catches less – and should the thread catch, it slides off. With the flat hook, if you get caught, it’s more effort to un-snag yourself.

I did like the fact it was metal though – feels more like science than craft! There’s also something nice about the bobbin tension – it’s actually pretty tight, so wont let out thread unless you really want it – which is the problem I had with the Pony.

In conclusion – I think it’s just too big for me. I love that it’s metal, and I like that it has *a* hook – I just don’t like *this* hook. Having said that, I hate to be defeated, and so I think I’ll persevere a bit longer. In between speeding along with my Clovers, of course. (Also, now I’m hankering after a small David Reed Smith wooden shuttle with a hook but I’ve notice they have flat hooks too…)

Talking of persevering and stuff that is bigger than expected – I decided to try again with the size 40 thread. Above you can see the same thing in size 80 (left) and 40 (right). I was using up some of the 40 thread I had left on a shuttle (just didn’t have enough to finish this). I’m not in love it with it. It still feels too big for me. That was a test to see if this motif would be more useful in a bigger size – and I’m not sure it would, especially if I don’t like it!

One thing I do like size 40 for, is clunys. I’ve still not really mastered them, and so I’ve given myself cluny homework. I’ve made this pattern before, but I still don’t think I’ve mastered it. The finished one was made in one pass, with a large split ring at the top. Not sure why but it never seems to come out quite the right shape – the clunys might have too few passes? (Should they be bigger?) Also the joining picots in the middle are too big and it looks really messy.

The ones in the middle of the half finished one are a much better shape. The one sticking out is a bit rubbish as I finished it on the train. If you’re a tatting commuter, this is an FYI: if you can get away with the embarrassment of getting your fingers into the right position for a cluny, then that’s awesome – but do remember they’re a lot harder to chuck in your bag unfinished when your train arrives! Packing away a half finished ring – or even a join – is ok, not so sure about a half finished leaf.

If you fancy learning clunys, there’s a bunch of links to videos and tutorials in the tatting pattern section. They’re by no means exhaustive, just ones I’ve found that have helped me.

The final episode: a new life for a baby blanket

January 15, 2012January 15, 2012 DW7 Comments

Previously, on Baby Blanket: The Occasional Crafter was in a panic. What could be the final visit to her pregnant friend before her friend gives birth was fast approaching. The Baby Blanket needed more yarn, but the forces of evil were conspiring against the Occasional Crafter and the yarn shop was failing to deliver. Could this be the end of the line for Baby Blanket? Would Occasional Crafter finally admit she should leave more time to finish things? Only the postman could tell, and you know what they’re like. Hope was fading fast…

The final Episode: A swift email was sent to Texere customer support. They didn’t see fit to reply. In desperation our ‘heroine’ orders another ball of yarn from Purple Linda, which is dispatched immediately. The Occasional Crafter wonders why she didn’t order it from there in the first place. Both balls of yarn mysteriously arrive within a day of each other, despite being ordered a week apart.

Picking up one ball, she sets to work. It’s quite a big blanket, really.

She adds shell stitch to the final two sides and thinks to herself ‘This yarn is a bit splitty. Even after all this time I’m not 100% sure I like it’. Banishing such pointless thoughts she wonders again about blocking. ‘Can you really wet this kind of yarn and block it? Will it dry in time? What on earth am I going to block it *on*’. She remembers the wise words of the Ravelry group and decides to iron it into submission instead. It’s not bad. She’s seen worse.

With a swift glace at the clock, the she spots its fast approaching midnight. ‘I’ll just thread this ribbon through before I go to bed, wont take long’. It’s clear at this point the Occasional Crafter has no idea what she’s talking about. It takes ages. she gets there in the end as the clock makes its weary way to 1am. It’s finished though, and if she didn’t have such a bad back, she’d probably sleep soundly.

Saturday morning arrives, the day of the hand over. She gets up early and wanders downstairs, eyeing the weather. Its neither good nor bad — it’s not really decided yet, and standing in her pj’s she couldn’t really blame it. She takes a bunch of Baby Blanket photos in the less than perfect light and hopes for the best. She wraps the parcel, congratulating herself on the previous purchase of some pale purple tissue, matching ribbon and brown paper.

Annnnd… there is a happy ending! I gave it to my friend (on time) who loved it. For some insane reason she’d not bought a baby blanket yet, and it was also the only handmade gift for the baby she’s received. I thought it was the law that you had to have something slightly terrible knitted or crocheted by a mad female relative? I’m happy to be a substitute on this occasion. My friend is gigantic. She’s at the stage where it looks like she’s got a perfectly round ball stuffed up her jumper. But she also looks brilliant.

A relief all round. One day I might mention to people I know that I have a blog. Only problem about that is that I wont be able to talk about them when they’re not looking 🙂

—
If you want to make one too, I used:
• This pattern by Alicia Paulson
• 11 balls of this yarn, Kool Kotton
• A 5.5 crochet hook

Now – just incase, You’ll need more than one ball of yarn to do the border! That was my mistake – please don’t make it yours too. Also, there seemed to be a shortage of cream Kool Kotton. No idea why but everyone was out of stock, so I ended up with white.

The pattern is super easy. It’s the ideal chatting or TV crochet project. Question is, what on earth do i make now?

Occasional Crafter

Crafting, occasionally.

Author: DW